Spokane Indians win streak halted at three; Hillsboro scores winning run in ninth

They say baseball is a game of inches. Thursday’s game was a prime example.

Ryan Bliss delivered a run-scoring single in the ninth inning and the Hillsboro Hops beat the Spokane Indians 6-5 in the third of a six-game Northwest League series at Avista Stadium on Thursday.

In a tied game with two outs in the top of the ninth, AJ Vukovich singled through the hole and stole second. Bliss followed with a single to the same spot and Robby Martin Jr.’s throw beat the runner to the plate, but catcher Ronaiker Palma couldn’t come up with the catch on the damp grass.

With the ball at Palma’s feet, Vukovich slid past the plate, then reached back with his hand to slap it for the run.

The Indians (5-7) had a three-game win streak snapped.

“I just wish (Palma) had realized that the guy had never tagged the plate,” Indians manager Scott Little said.

The Hops (6-6) scratched out a run in the top of the first against Indians starter Tony Locey. Jorge Barrosa lined a single, went to second on a passed ball, took third on a balk and scored on a sacrifice fly. They added another in the second on a walk and RBI double by Elian Miranda.

Meanwhile, Hillsboro starter Jamison Hill was cruising. He was perfect through four innings on just 35 pitches and looked to be picking up steam, striking out the last two batters of the fourth.

Instead, he ran out of steam – quickly.

Spokane’s Grant Lavigne led off the fifth with a walk, but was erased on a fielder’s choice by Julio Carreras. Colin Simpson followed and laced a 0-2 pitch to the wall in right-center to score Carreras from first.

Spokane loaded the bases on a walk and infield single, then Simpson scored on a wild pitch. Another infield single, a hard-hit ball off Hill’s glove by Eddy Diaz, scored another run.

Zac Veen’s line-drive, opposite-field single made it 4-2 and ended Hill’s evening.

“Finally we got to him,” Simpson said. “We got some pitches to hit, put some good swings on the ball and put an inning together.”

The Indians got another run in the sixth on an RBI double by Carreras.

Locey ran out of gas in the seventh. Doubles off the wall by Caleb Roberts and Miranda scored one run and ended Locey’s night. A second run scored on a throwing error by Palma.

“Locey battled back and pitched well,” Little said. “After all was said and done, you know maybe things would be different, but at the time you know the guy was pitching his butt off and they came back and did a hell of a job.”

Hillsboro tied it in the eighth when Neyfy Castillo’s sinking line drive just got under the glove of a diving Bladimir Restituyo in center.

Simpson alluded to it being a game of inches.

“That play by (Restituyo), that dive in center – I mean, he’s 2, 3 inches from catching that ball. He catches that ball it’s a whole different ballgame.”

The series continues Friday at 6:35 p.m.

Game notes

• Big Tony: Locey, listed at 6-foot-3, 239 pounds, was solid through 6⅓ innings before giving up a couple of balls off the wall in the seventh. He was lifted after 92 pitches.

The 23-year-old third-round pick of the St. Louis Cardinals in 2019 allowed three earned runs on five hits and two walks with four strikeouts.

“I felt OK,” Locey said. “I knew in the pen I was commanding my pitches pretty well but I didn’t have my best stuff today. I go out there and give up two runs … I knew I had to settle down and pitch to my strengths.

“I feel like I kind of got away with it. A lot of nights I’m not gonna have my best stuff and tonight was one of them. I had to really focus and settle in and try to get outs.”

Locey was part of the trade by the Colorado Rockies that send all-star third baseman Nolan Arenado to the Cardinals last year.

• Hold the fort: After Indians reliever Anderson Bido put two runners on with one out in the eighth, Little made a call to the pen for Fineas Del Bonta-Smith. Del Bonta-Smith found bad luck on Castillo’s line drive which tied the game, but he came back to get a pair of strikeouts to keep it knotted.

“He’s just a shut-down guy,” Little said of Del Bonta-Smith, making his second trip through the Northwest League. “Sometimes we felt like we were making pitches and we didn’t get them and you can’t do nothing about it. And you just keep going. You got to work yourself out of those situations.”

• Little things: Little lamented some missed opportunities in the close game

“We could have added on and we didn’t do much,” he said. “We had a chance to increase the lead and we didn’t and they all add up.”

“They’re all tight (games) and they all come back to haunt you. If you want to close these close games, you have to be successful. You have to throw guys out, you have to do a better job of holding runners and you know, (Hillsboro) executed they found some holes late in the game and those those holes led to their win.”